A number of politically-interested young people from across Saskatchewan were in North Battleford Saturday.
They were the Saskatchewan Young New Democrats who held their annual council meeting at Third Avenue United Church.
The youth delegates came from all across the province. They were there to talk policy and strategy and hear from guest speakers on topics of importance to the party.
The youth council is comprised of those between ages 13 to 25 and includes individuals who are taking on significant roles in the election campaign to come April 4.
Lia Storey-Gamble, co-vice-president of leadership development, noted young people play a vital role at election time.
“You need the young people,” said Storey-Gamble. “They can go door to door … knocking, introducing the candidate and working with them on the ground.”
“We as a party have been very good at having young people take on leadership positions within the party,” said Rylee Schuhmacher, vice-president of communications, who noted young people also offer a different perspective on the issues.
One issue she pointed to is the tuition increase which has “hit young people really hard in the province."
Policy resolutions were debated and voted on in the afternoon session, with the goal of seeing those ultimately make their way to the provincial and federal conventions.
One resolution pushed by the youth delegates was a call for full provincial funding to be restored to The Lighthouse Serving the Battlefords.
They were seeking to put that issue on the party’s agenda and Rob Feist, NDP candidate in the Battlefords who was at the meeting, says he believes issue could fester into the election campaign.
“It makes absolutely no sense to me that we would cut funding” for The Lighthouse, Feist said to reporters.
“It’s a cost-saving institution, and it is just completely illogical and just a bad political decision on the part of the Sask. Party to cut funding for that institution. Mr. (Herb) Cox and Mr. (Brad) Wall should give us some answers as to why they cut funding to that institution for the Battlefords.”
The meeting in North Battleford was one of two held on Saturday by provincial New Democrats as they prepare for the April 4 election campaign.
While the Young New Democrats were meeting in North Battleford, the NDP caucus and candidates were in Saskatoon for meetings there during the day. Those coincided with party leader Cam Broten’s own nomination to run in Saskatoon-Westview.
While the Saskatoon meeting meant many big names couldn’t come to North Battleford, there were still a few prominent political individuals there to offer advice. Candidate Feist led a lengthy discussion in the morning session on how the NDP could bridge the divide between urban and rural voters.
The urban-rural split has been an issue in Saskatchewan politics for years. NDP support has traditionally been strongest in the large cities and in the North. Feist’s presentation focused on ways for New Democrats to appeal to voters in rural areas and smaller cities where the Saskatchewan Party has traditionally been strong.
In speaking to reporters Feist accused the Saskatchewan Party of playing “the politics of blame and the politics of division in rural Saskatchewan,” and pointed to many rural issues that New Democrats push such as rural health care, the doctor shortage, the issue of what those laid off from the oil patch and agricultural sector are going to do and economic issues that affect farms.
“A big part of the reason I’m running is to bring that voice back for smaller cities and bring that voice back for rural people in the surrounding constituencies that our riding touches.”
Feist was very encouraged by what he saw at the meeting and was optimistic about the prospects of making inroads in the rural areas.
“I think it shows the New Democratic Party has tremendous energy going into this election and that we are pushing definitely back to take some of these smaller city seats and some potentially rural swing seats that we could move in the upcoming election.”
A prominent attendee at the meeting was former premier Lorne Calvert, who appeared on the invitation of the Young New Democrats.
He said his goal was to encourage them to “engage fully, not just in this upcoming election, but to engage in the practice of politics, the shaping of public policies, to be engaged in our communities.
“These young people — and they don’t have to be large in number to have a significant impact — they can change our world, they can change our communities and I want to, if I can, give them enthusiasm and confidence for that work.”
